New Rory Gallagher box set on Godfather

…and the latest box set from Godfather is Rory Gallagher – Across The Water: An Irish Man In The USA 1973 – 1976 (GR Box 21). This is a 6CD set that houses four separate titles, each focusing on a different year between 1973 and 1976 taken from their respective American tours. These are all soundboard recordings detailed within a 16 page booklet.

1973 will feature Richard’s Niteclub in Atlanta, Georgia in September 1973 with a couple bonus tracks performed at a radio station in Atlanta.

1974 contains two shows from the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio on August 12th & 13th, 1974. This also features bonus tracks from the Electric Ballroom in Atlanta and an acoustic session from French Radio.

1975 comes from the Sausalito Record Plant session in CA from October 31st, 1975. Three bonus tracks from the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland on October 28th are included.

1976 features the Shrine Auditorium show in Los Angeles, CA from November 18th, 1976. An acoustic session from Dutch Radio fills out this set.

I have already got it – a truly excellent set. The 1973 disc has slightly worse sound quality, but it is still a decent soundboard of that age. I would even dare to say that on the later dates Lou Martin’s keys are much better amplified and integrated with the group sound than on the canonical “Irish Tour”, where they sound awkwardly thin. As for the music the performances are scorching thorough the whole set, with a lot blistering solos and jams. Laundromat from Agora Ballroom ’74 would have been a highlight on the aforementioned live album.

Acoustic sets tucked at the end of two discs are a nice treat too, showing more intimate, folksy side of the great guitarist. Needless to say that everything is beautifully packaged, each set housed separately in the label’s traditional sturdy digipack. Another unexpected gem in immaculate series of Godfather releases. Grab it while you can.

What next, godfathers? I would love to see something from the classic Savoy Brown lineup (with Chris Youlden). There are some very interesting tapes in circulation (Fillmore East ’70, Ludlow’s Garage ’70)… :)